Fabio Capello faces an anxious wait over the fitness of Theo Walcott and Wayne
Rooney ahead of the Oct 7 Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro.

Crocked: today's injury to Theo Walcott may rule him out of England's crucial Euro 2012 qualifier against MontenegroPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

10:30PM BST 24 Sep 2011

Walcott suffered a knee injury in Arsenal’s defeat of Bolton and Wayne Rooney was left out of the Manchester United team against Stoke with a hamstring strain.

England need a point from the game in Podgorica to guarantee qualification for Poland and Ukraine and Capello wants to take his strongest side into the game.

He names his squad next weekend and the good news for the England manager was that Rooney tweeted that he hopes to have recovered in time for Tuesday’s Champions League game with Basel, although whether Sir Alex Ferguson is prepared to risk his star striker is another matter.

Walcott’s injury was something of a puzzle but after the club doctor had examined his knee last night it did not appear as serious as first feared.

“I thought it was a classic hamstring but it isn’t,” Wenger said after Walcott went down in stoppage time. “He felt a sharp pain in his knee.”